Softball

Beavers sweep Portland State — Kayleen Shafer’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Oregon State a 2-1 win and a sweep of a nonconference doubleheader with Portland State on Tuesday at the OSU Softball Complex in Corvallis. The Beavers won the opener 8-0 behind the three-hit pitching of Meehra Nelson, who improved her record to 13-7. Jessica Garcia was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and McKenna Arriola drove in three runs in Oregon State’s run-rule victory in the first game. Alysha Everett was 2-for-3 in the second game for the Beavers (26-7), who play a two-game nonconference series against No. 2-ranked Oklahoma this Friday and Saturday at OSU.

Football

NFL bans low-performing helmets —The NFL, with the cooperation of the NFL Players Association, has prohibited players from wearing 10 models of helmets that performed poorly in laboratory testing of impact absorption, the league said. The ban will affect more than 200 players who wore helmet models that are now prohibited, according to the league. Players previously were permitted to wear any helmet model of their choosing certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. One manufacturer of several models on the list of prohibited helmets, Rawlings, no longer manufactures football helmets. Other manufacturers have advised players to use newer models of helmets that perform better in testing, according to the league.

Basketball

Pay bump for G Leaguers — The NBA is instituting a long-anticipated salary increase in its developmental league, the league announced Tuesday. Effective next season, players signed to contracts for the developmental league, known as the G League, will earn $35,000 — or $7,000 per month — in addition to housing and insurance benefits over the course of the league’s five-month regular season. Players under G League contracts previously earned $26,000 or $19,000. The increase will represent a pay raise of 35 percent or 84 percent, depending on the player’s classification. The NBA pays all player salaries in the G League.

— From staff and wire reports